(VOVWORLD) - The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the Middle East into a new conflict.
 Smoke rises in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026. (Source: WANA/REUTERS) |
Iran launched missiles towards Israel, Israel's military said, and the Pentagon said the US strikes against Iran were named "OPERATION EPIC FURY."
Iran is preparing a crushing retaliation, an Iranian official told Reuters.
"We had warned you. Now you have started down a path whose end is no longer in your hands," Ebrahim Azizi, the head of Iran’s security commission, said separately.
The renewed confrontation threatened to further dim hopes for a diplomatic solution to Tehran's nuclear dispute with the West.
US President Donald Trump had built up a vast US military presence in the region to try to force Tehran to make concessions in nuclear talks. He said the US had launched a "massive and ongoing" operation against the Islamic Republic, vowing to ensure Tehran will not obtain a nuclear weapon.
"The State of Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel," Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
An Israeli defence official said the operation had been planned for months in coordination with Washington, and that the launch date was decided weeks ago.
Explosions were heard in Tehran on Saturday, Iranian media reported, and sirens sounded across Israel around 0815 a.m. local time in what the military said was a proactive alert to prepare the public for the possibility of an incoming missile strike.
The Israeli military announced the closure of schools and workplaces, with exceptions for essential sectors, and a ban on public airspace. Israel closed its airspace to civilian flights, and the airports authority asked the public not to go to any of the country's airports.